Americans United - National Prayer Breakfasthttps://www.au.org/tags/national-prayer-breakfast
enBreakfast Club: Obama Endorses Separation At Evangelical Eventhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/breakfast-club-obama-endorses-separation-at-evangelical-event
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">If the National Prayer Breakfast is going to occur, a message affirming church-state separation is exactly what its organizers need to hear.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of the National Prayer Breakfast. It’s a privately sponsored event, but every year the president attends and there’s often a lot of talk about God and country. It seems like another example of the annoying “civil religion” that so plagues our nation.</p><p>The breakfast took place this morning, and sure enough, President Barack Obama was there. He gave pretty <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast">extensive remarks</a> – and among them was a strong defense of separation of church and state.</p><p>The president spoke about the need for religious people to be humble. He then added, “And the second thing we need is to uphold the distinction between our faith and our government. Between church and between state. The United States is one of the most religious countries in the world – far more religious than most Western developed countries. And one of the reasons is that our founders wisely embraced the separation of church and state.</p><p>“Our government does not sponsor a religion, nor does it pressure anyone to practice a particular faith, or any faith at all. And the result is a culture where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can freely and proudly worship, without fear, or coercion….”</p><p>“That’s not the case in theocracies that restrict people’s choice of faith. It’s not the case in authoritarian governments that elevate an individual leader or a political party above the people, or in some cases, above the concept of God Himself. So the freedom of religion is a value we will continue to protect here at home and stand up for around the world, and is one that we guard vigilantly here in the United States.”</p><p>The National Prayer Breakfast is sponsored by the Fellowship Foundation, an evangelical group that is closely connected to far-right politics. In 2010, some groups called on Obama to skip the event because of the Fellowship’s ties to an extreme anti-gay legislator in Uganda who was pushing a bill that called for imprisonment and execution of gays. Obama went to the breakfast that year, but he blasted the anti-gay bill, calling it “odious.”</p><p>If the breakfast is going to occur – and it’s more than 50 years old at this point – a message affirming church-state separation is exactly what its organizers need to hear. They need someone to explain to them, as Obama did this morning, that the separation principle is the protector of religion, not its enemy.</p><p>I’d still prefer there were no National Prayer Breakfast. But if the president feels compelled to attend, I’m glad he took some time to spread the gospel of separation of church and state.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/prayer-at-government-events-and-legislative-meetings">Prayer at Government Events and Legislative Meetings</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/president-barack-obama">President Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-prayer-breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fellowship-foundation">The Fellowship Foundation</a></span></div></div>Thu, 05 Feb 2015 18:02:12 +0000Rob Boston10869 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/breakfast-club-obama-endorses-separation-at-evangelical-event#commentsBad Breakfast: Annual Prayer Confab Offers Another Helping Of Religion Mixed With Politics https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bad-breakfast-annual-prayer-confab-offers-another-helping-of-religion-mixed
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The National Prayer Breakfast is predicated on a mentality of “us” (good, godly Americans who embrace faith, preferably the conservative Christian kind) and “them” (everyone else).</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>I came into the office early this morning so I could watch the <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Events/President-Obama-Attends-60th-Annual-National-Prayer-Breakfast/10737427883-1/">National Prayer Breakfast</a> on C-SPAN. I wish I had stayed in bed.</p><p>As I<a href="http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/doubting-thomas-prayer-breakfast-theocrats-try-to-baptize-jefferson"> noted the other day</a>, this confab takes places every year. It’s sponsored by a group called The Fellowship Foundation (also known as The Family), a right-wing fundamentalist Christian outfit that has taken on the job of evangelizing the wealthy and powerful.</p><p>Americans United has some serious concerns about the Fellowship Foundation. The group runs the infamous “C Street House” here in D.C. and is known for its secrecy. It also has ties to extremist groups overseas.</p><p>Nevertheless, every year leading elected officials troop to the Washington Hilton for this exercise in political piety. It’s plugged as an opportunity for unity. Politicians may not agree on policy, organizers say, but they can get along for an hour or two in prayer.</p><p>Please. We all know that the men and women who talked nice over their ham and eggs this morning are even now right back to attacking one another on the floors of Congress, in the media and any other venue they can find. The Prayer Breakfast is now 60 years old, and politics is more of a blood sport than ever. Why are we pretending otherwise?</p><p>In fact, the breakfast has only fueled these divisions. The event is predicated on a mentality of “us” (good, godly Americans who embrace faith, preferably the conservative Christian kind) and “them” (everyone else).</p><p>One of the speakers this morning was Eric Metaxas, a writer and apologist for fundamentalism who unleashed a string of lame jokes (Eric, don’t quit your day job!) interspersed with ridicule aimed at those of us who have expressed concerns about the Fellowship Foundation.</p><p>Metaxas seems to think we’re engaged in conspiracy-theory-based fear mongering. Actually, it’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s true. The Fellowship Foundation has a lot of money, has a far-right political agenda, woos politicians and avoids public scrutiny. We are concerned that so many of our political leaders have cozied up to this sketchy group. Any questions?</p><p>Also, culture-war politics often rears an ugly head at the gathering. During his remarks, Metaxas criticized legal abortion and same-sex marriage, actually implying that those who hold right-wing views on these questions are somehow being discriminated against. Same tiresome line there.</p><p>President Barack Obama followed Metaxas at the podium. Like a lot of Americans, I admire the president’s rhetorical skills, but today he seemed off his game. To his credit, Obama took pains to point out that important ethical principles are found in all religions and philosophies. The rest of what he had to offer was pretty much election-season boilerplate. Obama even bragged about his “faith-based” initiative, a policy program inherited from George W. Bush that many church-state separationists wish would simply go away.</p><p>In a country of hundreds of religious perspectives, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pretend that there is a common theological glue that binds us all together. The organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast try to pretend that the event is open to all, but speakers are generally drawn from conservative Christianity and the political rhetoric that works its way into the event tends to come from the right side of the equation.</p><p>The Prayer Breakfast celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. The best thing the organizers could do to mark that milestone is make sure there’s never a 61st. In our increasingly diverse society, this event is an anachronism that long ago outlived whatever thin value it ever had. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/prayer-at-government-events-and-legislative-meetings">Prayer at Government Events and Legislative Meetings</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-prayer-breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/eric-metaxas">Eric Metaxas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/president-barack-obama">President Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fellowship-foundation-0">Fellowship Foundation</a></span></div></div>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:15:43 +0000Rob Boston6729 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bad-breakfast-annual-prayer-confab-offers-another-helping-of-religion-mixed#commentsBarry Lynn: Why I'm Skipping the National Prayer Breakfasthttps://www.au.org/media/in-the-news/barry-lynn-why-im-skipping-the-national-prayer-breakfast
<div class="field field-name-field-news-source field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Washington Post</div></div></div>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:36:25 +0000Rob Boston6728 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/media/in-the-news/barry-lynn-why-im-skipping-the-national-prayer-breakfast#commentsDoubting Thomas: Prayer Breakfast Theocrats Try To Baptize Jeffersonhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/doubting-thomas-prayer-breakfast-theocrats-try-to-baptize-jefferson
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to express his disagreement with the theology of ultra-conservative Christians has been mutilated and pressed into service by ultra-conservative Christians to promote their theocratic agenda.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The 60th annual National Prayer Breakfast will take place Feb. 2 here in Washington, D.C.</p><p>This event is privately sponsored by a shadowy fundamentalist Christian group called “The Family” (also known as the Fellowship Foundation). You might remember them from a few years ago, when a nasty sex scandal erupted over their infamous “C Street House” and the <a href="http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/family-values-secretive-c-street-band-is-wild-and-not-so-innocent">rowdy escapades</a> of some of its residents.</p><p>Even though it’s privately sponsored, the Prayer Breakfast is still annoying. The event has all the trappings of an official governmental worship service, with the president, members of Congress and other dignitaries gathering in a way that appears to merge religion and state. It may not technically violate the First Amendment, but it certainly tramples on the church-state separationist spirit that infuses the Constitution.</p><p>This year’s invitation, for example, is festooned with quotes from presidents lauding the role of the Bible in public life.</p><p>Among those quoted is Thomas Jefferson.</p><p>“In extracting the pure principles which Jesus taught,” the Jefferson quote says, “we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled…. there will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.”</p><p>If you read the quote without knowing its origins, it looks like Jefferson is praising the teachings of Jesus. And in the context of the prayer breakfast program, there is the implication that these teachings should be integrated into government policy.</p><p>Jefferson was praising Jesus – sort of. He was praising <em>his personal interpretation</em> of Jesus. And that Jesus is one the Family and its Religious Right allies would never acknowledge or accept.</p><p>On Oct. 13, 1813, Jefferson wrote a lengthy letter to his friend John Adams, outlining his latest project. It involved cutting up copies of the New Testament and tossing all of the stuff about Jesus that Jefferson did not accept – mainly claims of his divinity and the miracles.</p><p>“In extracting the pure principles which he [Jesus] taught,” Jefferson wrote, “we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, who have travestied them into various forms, as instruments of riches and power to themselves….We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus.... There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.”</p><p>Jefferson went on to write, “I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill. The result is an octavo of forty-six pages, of pure and unsophisticated doctrines.”</p><p>The Prayer Breakfast invitation – currently circulating on Capitol Hill -- thus selectively edits Jefferson’s passage to remove his criticism of greedy, power-hungry clergy and cover up his Bible-cutting project.</p><p>So, a letter Jefferson wrote specifically to express his disagreement with the theology of ultra-conservative Christians has been mutilated and pressed into service by ultra-conservative Christians to promote their theocratic agenda – an agenda Jefferson would never have supported. (This is the man, after all, who refused to issue official prayer proclamations while in office.)</p><p>But here’s the good news: These lies about Jefferson are easily debunked. Jefferson worked on his edit of the Bible for several years. The subsequent volume, which he called “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,” was intended for his private study, but thankfully it survived Jefferson’s death in 1826 and has come down to us. It now belongs to the Smithsonian Institution. In fact, archivists at the National Museum of American History have restored this remarkable document, and it is currently <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/documentsgallery/exhibitions/jefferson/">on display</a>.</p><p>The book has been reprinted and is available to anyone who wants to read it. Jefferson’s correspondence with Adams and others is also available. Anyone who wants the truth can easily find it: Jefferson clashed with the Religious Right ministers of his day and strongly rejected their views.</p><p>As I said, the National Prayer Breakfast is annoying. I wish our national leaders would quit attending it. And I wish the group sponsoring it would quit trying to claim Thomas Jefferson as an ally. He doesn’t agree with them. He’s on our side.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family">The Family</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fellowship-foundation-0">Fellowship Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-prayer-breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-adams">John Adams</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/smithsonian-institution">Smithsonian Institution</a></span></div></div>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:32:57 +0000Rob Boston6660 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/doubting-thomas-prayer-breakfast-theocrats-try-to-baptize-jefferson#commentsSkipping Breakfast: Why Obama Should Insist On A Different Prayer Circlehttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/skipping-breakfast-why-obama-should-insist-on-a-different-prayer-circle
<a href="/about/people/joseph-l-conn">Joseph L. Conn</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Why, the protesters wanted to know, were Obama and a cavalcade of government officials, gathering under the aegis of such a reprehensible group?</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>President Barack Obama gave his personal testimony yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Did you see it? What did you think?</p>
<p>I watched the address on a live stream from the White House website. It’s <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/02/03/national-prayer-breakfast">still there</a> if you want to take it in for yourself.</p>
<p>Obama’s message was deeply personal and overtly Christian. I guess he’s been falsely accused of being a Muslim so much that he feels obligated to make that point pretty bluntly one more time.</p>
<p>Obama also talked about how his faith influences his daily life, but the address largely steered clear of controversial political references. His remarks were charming and self-deprecating, funny and serious. Classic Obama.</p>
<p>I have to admit I have mixed reactions about all this.</p>
<p>Nobody questions Obama’s right to participate in the religion of his choice. Presidents don’t give up their constitutional protections when they move into the White House. I think it’s perfectly appropriate for Obama to attend the house of worship of his choice – or stay home.</p>
<p>The National Prayer Breakfast – despite its official-sounding name – is privately sponsored. So participation in the event by elected officials doesn’t directly raise constitutional concerns. This isn’t a governmental event, it’s a privately organized worship service.</p>
<p>But that’s where one of the major problems comes in. The breakfast is privately sponsored by The Fellowship Foundation, a shadowy evangelical Christian outfit that is hymnal-deep in controversy. The Fellowship, also known as the Family, has a <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120746516">well-documented</a> record of political shenanigans both here and abroad. (See <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2009/09/behind-the-green-door.html">"C-Street House.”</a>) Its leaders achieve power by holding networking events such as the prayer breakfast -- officially non-political but unofficially very much so. (Search “National Prayer Breakfast” on Google News and see the list of political figures, great and small, who proudly announced that they were attending this year’s heavy-hitter get-together.)</p>
<p>Most recently, Fellowship cronies have been involved in the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/the-god-factor-national-p_n_817151.html">disgraceful attempts</a> in Uganda to impose the death penalty and other draconian punishments on gay people. That’s why <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/04/gay-rights-advocates-question-obamas-prayer-breakfast-appearance/">protesters gathered</a> outside the Washington Hilton to call our national leaders to account.</p>
<p>Why, the protesters wanted to know, were Obama and a cavalcade of government officials, gathering under the aegis of such a reprehensible group?</p>
<p>I’d like to know that too.</p>
<p>The National Prayer Breakfast is a well-established fixture on the political scene, and I don’t think it’s going to go away. But at a bare minimum, the president and members of Congress ought to insist that this event be sponsored by another group. How about an interfaith network that includes the full array of America’s religious and secular traditions?</p>
<p>If that doesn’t happen next year, Obama ought to exercise his constitutional right to stay home. Members of Congress ought to do so, too.</p>
<p>And one other thing: I don’t think it’s appropriate to broadcast this kind of event on the White House website. It’s already on C-SPAN and a lot of the other news networks. Is it really in keeping with the constitutional separation of church and state for the president to use official governmental channels to tell America about his conversion experience and his prayer life?</p>
<p>I don’t think so.</p>
<p>We’re getting to the point in America that every politician feels obligated to give his personal testimony as a required step in running for office, and that’s a step in the wrong direction.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gay-rights">Gay Rights</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-prayer-breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family">The Family</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fellowship-foundation">The Fellowship Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/uganda">Uganda</a></span></div></div>Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:23:33 +0000Joseph L. Conn1629 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/skipping-breakfast-why-obama-should-insist-on-a-different-prayer-circle#commentsMore Faith-Based Follies: One Year Later, Initiative Remains Plagued With Problemshttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/more-faith-based-follies-one-year-later-initiative-remains-plagued-with
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">If Obama’s advisers believe championing the faith-based initiative is going to boost his standing among conservative evangelicals, they are sadly deluded.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The one-year anniversary today of the unveiling of President Barack Obama’s version of the “faith-based” initiative has pushed the issue back into the spotlight. Unfortunately, the news is not good.</p>
<p>Speaking at yesterday’s National Prayer Breakfast, Obama boasted that he had “turned the faith-based initiative around.”</p>
<p>I was surprised to read that statement, because everything I see indicates that we’re still fighting the same old battles over faith-based funding that erupted during the Bush years.</p>
<p>Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn outlines the concerns many religious liberty advocates share in an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-w-lynn/faith-hope-and-charity-wh_b_450099.html">op-ed</a> on the Huffington Post. Conservative religious groups, Lynn points out, want the right to receive tax funding for social services while discriminating on religious grounds when hiring staff.</p>
<p>They also seek to provide publicly funded services in areas festooned with religious signs and symbols and want minimal oversight over their activities.</p>
<p>“One year after Obama announced his version of the faith-based office, civil rights and civil liberties groups such as mine are still fighting Bush-era battles over tax funding to religious groups that proselytize, job discrimination on religious grounds in public programs and lack of accountability,” observes Lynn. “It’s disheartening.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> today has a piece reporting that Obama staffers are using the initiative to court religious conservatives. The president named a 25-member council to advise him on this issue and others, and so far, it looks like conservatives have the upper hand.</p>
<p><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703357104575045623785996294.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird">Reports </a>The Journal, “Conservatives on the council are pleased with the direction the White House is taking. ‘As a conservative, I do feel there is a willing ear’ in the White House, said council member Frank Page, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “If there’s ever a time that the White House needs to say, ‘We need to keep our ears open,’ this is it.”</p>
<p>Religious leaders are pressing for even more influence. On Wednesday, <em>The Washington Post</em> quoted Jim Wallis, an evangelical leader who supports the “right” of publicly funded faith-based groups to discriminate in hiring.</p>
<p>“I want [Obama] to listen to faith groups as much as he listens to people on Wall Street,” <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203770_pf.html">Wallis said</a>. “I want him to listen to faith groups as much as military leaders on Afghanistan.”</p>
<p>What are we to make of all of this?</p>
<p>First off, if Obama’s advisers believe championing the faith-based initiative is going to boost his standing among conservative evangelicals, they are sadly deluded. At the Religious Right meetings I attend, the rage and hate against Obama is palpable.</p>
<p>The rank-and-file members of these organizations despise the president because of his stands on social issues like abortion, gay rights and so on. This base will not be pulled away from their anger simply because a handful of conservative religious leaders are being invited to meetings at the White House.</p>
<p>Instead of playing to an audience that will never support him, Obama would do better to fulfill the promise he made as a candidate. During a July 2008 speech in Ohio, Obama vowed to reform the faith-based initiative. He said, “If you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.”</p>
<p>Good plan. How about putting it into effect?</p>
<p>As for Jim Wallis, his comment that Obama should listen more to religious leaders should really be interpreted this way: “Obama should listen more to religious leaders who believe as I do.” Wallis claims to be a moderate, and I doubt he would be happy if Obama suddenly started taking his marching orders from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Richard Land.</p>
<p>Wallis believes religious groups should have more influence over the political system. I say they have quite enough. They deserve no more or less than any other special-interest group out there. And, in light of the First Amendment’s church-state separation provisions, there may well be times when they simply can’t have what they want.</p>
<p>I’ve come to the conclusion that the faith-based initiative is beyond repair or reform. A government office that does nothing but looks for ways to conjoin religion and government simply can’t be squared with the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.</p>
<p>Michael D. Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, summed up well the faith-based initiative’s faults in a <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/28/obamas-faith-based-boondoggle/">recent column</a>. I don’t agree with libertarians on certain issues, but this piece is spot on.</p>
<p>“Government money never comes without strings,” Tanner observes. “In the case of faith-based organizations, legitimate concerns about the separation of church and state mean that charities must prove they are not using government funds for proselytizing and other exclusively religious activities. This can impose significant administrative burdens on small local charities and give government the ability to snoop through a church’s books and records.”</p>
<p>We could avoid these problems, and a host of others, by getting government out of the business of funding religion.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/faith-based-initiative">faith-based initiative</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jim-wallis">Jim Wallis</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/michael-d-tanner">Michael D. Tanner</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-prayer-breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/president-barack-obama">President Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-and-politics">Religion and politics</a></span></div></div>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:13:03 +0000Rob Boston1983 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/more-faith-based-follies-one-year-later-initiative-remains-plagued-with#comments